First time RV'er from Ireland

[chicoelnino]

Hi all, first post here in this forum. I'm from Ireland.

Myself and 4 others are planning a 2 week RV trip around california. I did this same trip two years ago via rented car and it was a spectacular trip. So much so, that I've wanted to do it again, only this time via RV. We plan to go from 10th Sept to the 25th Sept.

However, I've never done an RV trip before and so therefore am very inexperienced to the whole thing.

I was looking at a Class C type RV called the "happy explore" from the company apollo on this website: http://cheap-rv-rental.com

Are these a reputable company? If not, the could someone please be so kind as to give me a few links of better ones?

Also, regarding RV parks, if we just say pulled into a lot, and we wanted to go away in the RV for a few hours and come back...would that be possible? I mean, would our spot be kept if we paid for it?

I've a load of questions to ask in this thread so I'd like to get some bits of advice from ye folks who are seasoned pro's at RVing

Kind Regards,
Carlo

 

[C Nash]

Re: First time RV'er from Ireland

Carlo as long as you have paid for the spot its yours in most cgs. There may be some exceptions. You would need to leave something like a chair so other campers will know its occupied. Most site will have a post where your length of stay is visiable. Most offices will also have a board showing sites that are in use. I know nothing of the rental service. Where will you be going and length of stay will help us give info.

 

[chicoelnino]

Re: First time RV'er from Ireland

Thanks C Nash for the reply. Our trip this year will be for two weeks. We plan on doing what we did two years ago via car and do Vegas, L.A and San fran. Our main concern with this trip is that fact that no of us ever went on a RV trip before so therefore we don't know of any pitfalls that may bestow us.
We certainly don't mind the living out of an RV style trip...thats part of the fun. I'd just like to know how accessible are main attraction from these RV parks. Like for instance, just say in L.A we find a nice park. Do we then have to worry about getting taxi's in and out from wherever we would like to go...due to the fact that driving an RV around everywhere probably would'nt be very easy?

Thanks for the help so far mate.

 

[Angie]

Re: First time RV'er from Ireland

Carlo, what might help you out is going onto a campground search website, like http://www.campingroadtrip.com/ , punching in the city you're going to, and seeing where your campground is in relation to either the center of the city you're interested in, or in relation to proximity.

On the google style map that's generated when you run your campground search you can zoom in and see where bus or train stops are in relation to the campground. So that might be an option for you.

Hope this helps!

 

[campbellVT]

Re: First time RV'er from Ireland

Carlo,

Depending on the attractions you're tralking about, getting a Class C to and from them should not be a huge issue. If you're talking about disneyland, there will be ample RV parking I assume. My Class C is 22' and can fit into many normal parking spaces.

As far as leaving a cmapground after you've paid for a site, in all my years of camping I've never heard of losing a site for leaving it. You'll get a receipt when you pay for the site, that's all you'll need to drive off any uninviteds. Again, I've never ever heard of this being an issue, at least in the East and througout CO.

I would start by mapping out the areas where you're likely to overnite, then find nearby rv parks, email them and find out what kind of availability they tend to have aroud the mid-september timeframe. Since school is back in session at that point, I would imagine that there will be sites to be had, but that's just a guess.

Whomever yuou rent an rv from, make sure you get a GPS, these are invaluable fro finding places like Wal-Mart, where you can park for a night in a pinch, Flying J truck stops, where you can dump for free often times, and all the other little things that on-the-roaders require.

Jeff

 

[C Nash]

Re: First time RV'er from Ireland

I have ran into one state cg where they did not allow you to leave the site un occupied even if you left a chair but that was a long time ago. We have camped for 50 yrs so dont think you will run into this anymore. You shouldn't run into any problems with the class c at main attractions. Rving now is big here and most provide for it. Driving in crowded downtowns can get hetic. Try to avoid the high traffic rush hours. keep us posted and ask any questions that come to mind.

 

[chicoelnino]

Re: First time RV'er from Ireland

Thanks for your great help folks. I'll do some more research and get back to ye with some more questions.

Thanks again.

 

[Chunkybeastracin]

Re: First time RV'er from Ireland

Just FYI a nice RV resort you may enjoy is the Newport Dunes RV park. They have spaces available directly on the bay and your space is alway gauranteed to be there for you without having to worry about leaving a chair etc. This is just south of Huntington Beach and offers many spectacular tourist attractions and sites